1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knee crutch that can be attached to a user""s upper leg or thigh, support the user""s lower leg in a bent position, and provide stable support for the user.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
A preliminary patentability search in Class 135, subclasses 66, 68 and 69, and in Class 602, subclasses 16 and 26, produced the following patents, which may be relevant to the present invention: Tykwinski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,375, issued Feb. 27, 1979, on a knee crutch-cane including a cane having an upper end for being gripped by the user, and a lower end for engaging the floor, and including a cradle for receiving the user""s knee attached to the cane between the opposite ends thereof; Monte, U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,715, issued Sep. 29, 1981, on a foot support crutch including a support platform for engaging the user""s leg below the knee, and a dual ground supporting arrangement which may have a clutch member to provide some type of level seeking ability; Beatty, U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,927, issued Mar. 27, 1990, on an attachment for existing crutches including a foldable mechanism having a knee supporting platform; MacGregor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,595, issued Jan. 12, 1993, on a walker device including an upright staff that extends from the user""s pelvis to the ground, with an upper receiving member for receiving and securing the user""s thigh to the staff, and a lower receiving member for receiving and securing the user""s calf to the staff; Marlatt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,016, issued Apr. 5, 1994, on a prosthetic device including a shelf for supporting a user""s lower leg in a nonweight-bearing position while supporting the user""s knee in a weight bearing position, and a foldable strut extending below the shelf for supporting the user""s weight while standing or walking; Bieri, U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,299, issued Nov. 19, 1996, on a walking device having a flat, rectangular foot member, a tubular support member attached to the foot member, and a body member attached to the support member opposite the foot member for being attached to the lower portion of a person""s leg; Tisley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,236, issued May 5, 1998, on a knee crutch including a knee receptacle, one or more legs, an upright, and a handle, allowing the patient to walk by grasping the handle and moving the knee crutch forward, and to stand by resting the abdomen against the handle; and Bierman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,263, issued Aug. 24, 1999, on a leg support crutch including a unitary leg cradle conforming generally to a user""s thigh, knee and lower leg, and a support strut releasably attached to the cradle and positioned to support the weight of the user when standing or walking.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention.
The present invention provides a collapsible knee crutch that is used to assist an individual in walking and to participate in more normalized activities while an injured lower extremity heals. The present invention is to be used by individuals who have sustained an injury to their lower extremity to include the foot and ankle areas, and it serves as an extension of an injured individual""s leg, allowing the individual to redistribute weight on the injured side. The present invention has been developed to accommodate different individual""s heights, and even to enable one to sit and straighten one""s knee with the crutch folded. The present invention can be utilized with standard crutches to allow for both weight bearing and balance. The present invention is fairly lightweight, straps to the lower leg, and is easy to use.
The collapsible knee crutch of the present invention includes an upper leg member, a lower leg member, a lower leg pivot for pivotally attaching the upper and lower leg members together for allowing the lower leg member to pivot between a bent position and an extended position, a support leg member, and a support leg pivot pivotally attaching the lower leg member and the support leg member together for allowing the support leg to pivot between a bent position and an extended position. The lower leg pivot has a pivotal axis located forward of the user""s natural knee pivotal axis when the crutch is attached to the user""s leg. The support leg member preferably has elongated, spaced apart inside and outside support legs with the outside support leg preferably being longer than the inside support leg.